Abstract
The paper analyzes and presents how the phenomenon of linguistic politeness is exhibited in eight selected Independence Day Anniversary Speeches delivered by Nigerian Heads of Government between 1960 and 2011. The speeches were got from both the internet (http://www.dawodu.com.htm) and the national dailies like “The Punch” and “The Guardian” recovered from Archives, University Libraries and Tribune House in Ibadan. Using insights from Leech’s Politeness Maxims and Brown and Levinson’s theory of “face”, it is discovered that either consciously or unconsciously, the speech encoders make use of tact maxim to achieve oneness, intimacy and solidarity with Nigerians but most importantly as a face saving act, Pollyanna maxim to conceal the true extent of an unpalatable event and also to make the decoders feel happy and optimistic, modesty maxim to signify that Nigerian Heads of Government are not arrogant and pompous and equally does not claim that they can achieve anything without the support of Nigerians; and lastly approbation maxim to praise, eulogize and acknowledge some selected people in some cases and all Nigerians in others.
Highlights
Language is an important phenomenon in the affairs of human beings
The paper analyzes and presents how the phenomenon of linguistic politeness is exhibited in eight selected Independence Day Anniversary Speeches delivered by Nigerian Heads of Government between 1960 and 2011
Using insights from Leech’s Politeness Maxims and Brown and Levinson’s theory of “face”, it is discovered that either consciously or unconsciously, the speech encoders make use of tact maxim to achieve oneness, intimacy and solidarity with Nigerians but most importantly as a face saving act, Pollyanna maxim to conceal the true extent of an unpalatable event and to make the decoders feel happy and optimistic, modesty maxim to signify that Nigerian Heads of Government are not arrogant and pompous and does not claim that they can achieve anything without the support of Nigerians; and lastly approbation maxim to praise, eulogize and acknowledge some selected people in some cases and all Nigerians in others
Summary
Language is an important phenomenon in the affairs of human beings. It is, perhaps, the only singular means of communication that can be overtly used in performing different things or accomplishing different purposes in human so-. It follows that for any meaningful friendship to take place, for a leader (religious, political, etc.) and his followers to work together successfully and for members of a family to live together peacefully and harmoniously, those involved must exhibit politeness in their linguistic interaction. A speaker who is + Higher status must still show considerations for his/her – Higher status audience either in speech or in writing It is on the basis of the second point above that this paper would investigate the different forms of politeness in selected Independence Anniversary Speeches of Nigerian Heads of Government. While section six highlights the significance of the research, section seven concludes the paper
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